The 30% Tax Credit for Video Games, managed by the CNC and the DGE, is a tax incentive which allows development studios for 36 months to deduct 30% of a game’s production expenses from their taxes. It is one of the schemes supporting creation and innovation and aiming at making France a leader in video game production.
Accessible to all France-based studios, the eligible companies (whether or not they own the IP) can receive up to €6 million per fiscal year. European subcontracting expenses taken into account in the calculation of the tax credit are capped at €2M per fiscal year.
To obtain the provisional approval for the Tax Credit for Video Games, the project needs to score at least 12 points on the Selection Criteria Grid, a cultural test focused on creativity an innovation.
Since its launch in 2008, more than 200 studios and 450 video games have benefited from the scheme.
Who is eligible?
Any video games development company located in France, for creating an approved video game. The company must:
- Be liable for French corporation tax or exempted therefrom under conditions
- Comply with the social (welfare) legislation;
- Handle the artistic and technical aspects of making the video game and initiate and make the spending necessary to creating the video game;
When a video game is co-developed (i.e. created jointly), more than one video games development company can enjoy tax credits, each company benefiting from a tax credit based on its respective spending; separate applications should then be made to the CNC.
What eligibility conditions must the video game project fulfill in order to benefit from the tax credit?
The video game must:
- Have a development cost of no less than €100,000;
- Be genuinely intended for sale to the public;
- Be made mainly with the assistance of authors/designers and development staff who are either of French nationality, or who are nationals of another member State of the European Community, or of another State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area and having signed a tax agreement with France (See Creative staff scale)
- Contribute to developing French and European videogames creation and to the diversity of such creation, by standing out in particular by quality, originality, or innovativeness of design, resulting in obtaining 12 points on the cultural scale (See Selection criteria grid)
- Must not include sequences of a pornographic nature or of a very violent nature
Download the Creative staff scale and Selection criteria grid
What type of expenditure is eligible for the tax credit?
Expenses incurred directly for developing (i.e. creating) the video game in France or in a Member State of the European Community are eligible :
- Capital allowance (amortization) for fixed assets created or acquired new (capital allowance for amortizing buildings is not accepted);
- Considerations paid to the authors/designers who took part in creating the video game, pursuant to an agreement for assigning rights to exploit/use the intellectual property, and the related social (welfare) contributions;
- Staff pay relating to the employees of the company and the related social contributions, and salaries and contributions for the technical and administrative staff who are involved;
- Other operating expenses. These expenses include purchases of materials, supplies and equipment, rents on buildings, maintenance and repair expenses relating to such buildings, travel expenses, technical documentation, postal, and electronic mail expenses;
- Subcontracting expenses up to two million euros per financial year.
Eligible expenses start from the date the application is submitted to the CNC.
What is the procedure for having the video game project approved by the CNC?
A provisional approval must be applied for before the video game is finished. Whenever the video game is being co-produced, the application for provisional approval shall be submitted by each of the development companies. The expenses give entitlement for the tax credit for the year during which they are incurred, as from the date of reception by the CNC of the application for provisional approval.
The provisional approval is granted by the CNC after the video games have been selected by a commission of experts. The approval decision attests that the video game satisfies the required conditions entitlement to the tax credit for the above-mentioned expenses, subject to final approval being granted.
Download the provisional approval application file
An application for final approval must be submitted after the video game is finished, within a time limit of 36 months following the date of provisional approval. Otherwise, an amount corresponding to the tax credit share obtained shall be paid back.
Whenever the video game is being co-produced, the application must be submitted jointly by the development companies. Final approval is granted by the CNC and attests that the video game satisfies the required conditions.
Download the final approval application file
Contacts
Olivier Fontenay
Head of the Digital Creation Department
Olivier.Fontenay@cnc.fr
Juliette Berthier
Deputy Head of the Digital Creation Department
Juliette.Berthier@cnc.fr
Thierno Bah
Project Manager
Thierno.Bah@cnc.fr